UFC 135 took place this past Saturday, Sept. 24, at Denver’s Pepsi Center. The night’s main card aired on pay-per-view. In addition to Spike TV’s two preliminary-card fights, Facebook streamed three prelim bouts.

In the Spike TV fights, “The Ultimate Fighter 13″ winner Tony Ferguson scored a TKO victory after breaking Aaron Riley’s jaw with a punch. Additionally, Tim Boetsch again looked impressive at middleweight as he delivered Nick Ring his first career loss.

Of the 22 “UFC Prelims” specials Spike TV has aired to date, UFC 135’s tied for the third-largest audience. Additionally, the one-hour broadcast was the highest-rated “UFC Prelims” special ever among men 18-34. It also was the No. 1 rated cable program in its timeslot among men 18-34 and men 18-49.

The all-time record for viewership was set in February, when two million viewers tuned in for a “UFC Prelims” special for UFC
126.

The full list of “UFC Prelims” broadcasts and ratings as compiled by MMAjunkie.com includes:

1) UFC 126 (February 2011): 2 million viewers

2) UFC 109 (February 2010): 1.7 million

3) UFC 135 (September 2011): 1.6 million

3) UFC 131 (June 2011): 1.6 million

3) UFC 114 (May 2010): 1.6 million

6) UFC 129 (April 2010): 1.5 million

6) UFC 108 (January 2010): 1.5 million

6) UFC 121 (October 2010): 1.5 million

6) UFC 123 (November 2010): 1.5 million

10) UFC 133 (August 2011): 1.4 million

10) UFC 104 (October 2009): 1.4 million

10) UFC 103 (September 2009): 1.4 million

13) UFC 134 (August 2011): 1.3 million

13) UFC 130 (May 2011): 1.3 million

13) UFC 128 (March 2011): 1.3 million

13) UFC 119 (September 2010): 1.3 million

13) UFC 116 (July 2010): 1.3 million

13) UFC 115 (June 2010): 1.3 million

13) UFC 106 (November 2009): 1.3 million

20) UFC 132 (July 2011): 1.2 million

20) UFC 111 (March 2010): 1.2 million

22) UFC 118 (August 2010): 1.1 million

23) UFC 125 (January 2011): 829,000*

24) UFC 127 (February 2011): 714,000*

* – Aired on ION Television, not Spike TV

The UFC first offered a PPV teaser broadcast for UFC 103, when the UFC
went head-to-head on Spike TV with a boxing PPV broadcast featuring
Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez. The specials proved effective
enough at generating last-minute PPV buys that officials from the UFC
and the organization’s longtime cable partner decided to make them a
regular offering.